Preventative Measures

“Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”
‭‭Joshua‬ ‭1:8‬

Photo courtesy of Emily Unglesbee

I’ve been digging around a lot lately. Odds were good that I’d find at least one.

Cutworm, I mean.

Oooooh, I hate those things.

They burrow down into the earth during the day so it is hard to find them – unless you are doing some digging. Then with cooler temperatures and the cloak of darkness, they emerge to wreak their own particular version of garden havoc.

They find a tender young pea plant, for example, and eat a perfect little circle around the stem, causing the wee plant to collapse on itself.

Then they continue down the row, feasting as they go before disappearing into their secret burrows and blending in with the soil so they are hard to find.

(Did I mention I hate those things?)

They are ugly, and they do ugly deeds. What’s not to hate?

I mean, if they decided to eat one entire plant, I couldn’t begrudge them their little banquet. One worm, one plant. Done.

But no.

One worm, one whole row of peas, one plant at a time, leaving a trail of dying plants in its wake.

Because they are only active at night, and chemical warfare must be done at night. And even then it’s hard to guarantee contact. Some gardeners add coffee grounds when planting. Others place some sort of stakes around the stem of plants to prevent a cut worm from being able to eat the entire circumference of the stem.

We’ve been trying some preventative measures of our own.

Adult cutworm moths apparently lay their eggs in August. Once August hits, we try to make sure there is a crust on top of our garden soil. We don’t work anything up to prevent the moths from finding a nice soft spot in which to lay their eggs.

No eggs, no worms.

Of course it isn’t foolproof, but I think it helps.

Now to the preventative measures you and I can take in our own lives…

Evil is out there, no doubt about it. You can’t always anticipate where it will strike, or when. But you can take preventative measures.

You can stay out of dark alleys at night. You can choose friends and activities wisely. You can make sure what you allow into your thoughts and habits is healthy.

And you can meditate on the Word of God.

So how will that help, you ask?

Not wandering down a back alley in the rough part of town at midnight can help to prevent encountering evil from without. Reading, studying, and thinking deeply on the Word of God will help to prevent the evil that comes from within.

Y’all know it. We all have the potential to mess our own lives up royally without anyone else’s help.

Yikes.

By keeping God’s principles for living right at our fingertips, we will avoid a lot of pitfalls that can come from our own tendencies toward selfishness, pride, power grabbing, or insensitivity.

Preventative measures can go a long way to building a solid and healthy and godly life.

Meditate on God’s Word with me?

Father, there are a lot of ‘cutworms’ out there – things that can really cause damage to our spirits. Help us to set up positive and healthy habits which will help to prevent some of that damage, whether from without or within. Thank you for the power of Your Word in our lives. Amen.